President and CEO; BF

Ballinger Leafblad is pleased to conduct the search for President & Chief Executive Officer at Blandin Foundation, the largest rural-based and rural-focused private foundation in Minnesota.

The Foundation is the largest rural-based and rural-focused private Foundation in Minnesota and one of only a handful nationally. It provides approximately $12 million in grants each year and has nationally recognized community leadership development, broadband and other programs. The Foundation also convenes rural community leaders around critical issues such as student success, diversity, equity and inclusion, and economic development. The Foundation works throughout rural Minnesota and maintains a special relationship with its home area.

In establishing the Foundation, Charles K. Blandin emphasized flexibility to ensure it could adapt to changing times with an underlying philosophy that its work should lead to “the betterment of mankind.” Blandin established the Foundation in 1941 to aid and promote Grand Rapids and the surrounding area.

The Foundation’s management and Board of Trustees work diligently to ensure that Charles K. Blandin’s legacy is served through wise investment and community focused leadership programs, meaningful public policy engagement, and grant‑making.

The legacy of Charles K. Blandin’s endowment truly shines when paired with the passion of individuals within these communities. Thousands of volunteers, social service professionals, business people, public officials, emerging leaders, families, educators, peers and others representing these communities are partnering to create a better rural Minnesota.

Blandin Foundation has proudly made its home in Itasca County (north central Minnesota) for more than 75 years. This region was the “wood basket” for the Grand Rapids‑based Blandin Paper Company when it was owned by Foundation founder Charles K. Blandin in the early 20th Century. Today the Foundation partners with these communities as they design and claim vibrant futures. The Foundation invests at least 60 percent of its grant‑making in the Itasca County area annually in addition to other programming.

While no longer legally affiliated in any way with the paper company, the communities of, and bordering, Itasca County continue to be the primary focus of the Foundation’s resources. This includes several communities in the Leech Lake Ojibwe Nation.

The Foundation’s work in the home area is focused on building strong relationships for all Itasca communities to be vibrant, thriving and healthy. The Foundation supports a wide spectrum of partners and initiatives, with emphasis given to those based on collaboration and people facing inequities.

Charles K. Blandin Foundation, the formal name of Blandin Foundation, is a private foundation based in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. It is guided by the terms of the will of founder Charles K. Blandin, who passed away in 1958 following distinguished careers in education, publishing and paper‑making, including owning the Blandin Paper Company in Grand Rapids. Upon his death, Mr. Blandin directed that his assets be used to strengthen rural communities, especially the Grand Rapids area.

To accomplish this vision, Mr. Blandin established the foundation in 1941. The Charles K. Blandin Residuary Trust was established in 1958 as a legally separate entity responsible for investing and growing the assets of the endowment in perpetuity. The Foundation is the sole beneficiary of the Residuary Trust.

Blandin Paper Company was sold by the Trust in 1977. Today, Finland‑based UPM owns the paper company. Blandin Foundation continues to be private and independent of the paper company.

The Foundation has distributed more…